Microsoft Reveals What’s Next With LinkedIn After Acquisition

Back in June, Dazeinfo had released a report stating that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) had acquired LinkedIn at a whopping price of $26.2 billion. This was the costliest acquisition by Microsoft, overshadowing the $19 billion purchase of Whatsapp by Facebook. The deal was slated to get closed by the end of the year.

On Tuesday, the acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft was approved by the European Commission, under the EU Merger Regulation. But Microsoft had to make concessions to supply Microsoft products to LinkedIn rivals for five years after the deal closes.

Six months after the acquisition, Microsoft closed the deal with LinkedIn. The CEO of Microsoft took to LinkedIn to write a note on how excited the company was. Also, he showed enthusiasm on acquiring the world’s leading professional network, LinkedIn.

“As we articulated six months ago, our top priority is to accelerate LinkedIn’s growth, by adding value for every LinkedIn member,” says Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.

Why Microsoft Acquired LinkedIn

Microsoft wants its presence felt on social media. Despite having a wide number of users on Office, Microsoft lacks a social network. Add to this, after the failure of the $7.6 billion acquisition of the Nokia, Microsoft now needed a new revenue source.

Our earlier reports stated that, as of June 2016, LinkedIn had 433+ million registered users worldwide. The site had 7 million plus job listings this year, with a YoY growth of 101% from last year. Since LinkedIn is the only social media site for professionals and businesses, it makes sense that Microsoft would acquire LinkedIn. The LinkedIn network will also help in boosting the cloud network. Integrated with Office 365 and Dynamics, LinkedIn news feed could pave the way for enhanced and personalised articles for every user.

(Image Source: https://goo.gl/images/pz6nUU)

According to Forbes, LinkedIn had a revenue of $2.9 billion in 2015, a YoY growth of 35%. LinkedIn has user data that is much more valuable, such as where people work, where they completed their education and more.

Microsoft is pushing its way into business enterprise software. The company earlier acquired Yammer, a small scale version of LinkedIn. Therefore, along with Skype, and now LinkedIn, Microsoft has collaborated products that are in demand in businesses and enterprises today.

In addition, LinkedIn will operate separately under CEO Jeff Weiner. But he will be reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

What’s Next in LinkedIn

In his LinkedIn note, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also spoke about integrating Microsoft and LinkedIn, in the immediate term:

Microsoft Outlook and Office will now include LinkedIn identity.

Windows Action Center will display notifications from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn members can directly draft résumés in Word and update profiles or apply to jobs.

Sponsored Content will have greater reach across Microsoft properties.

Active Directory, Office 365 to power Enterprise LinkedIn Lookup.

Office 365 and Windows Ecosystem to have LinkedIn Learning available.

Business desk development across the existing content ecosystem and MSN.com

Combining Sales Navigator and Dynamics 365 to enhance social selling.

“Microsoft – inclusive of LinkedIn – can take steps to help people develop new skills online, find new jobs and easily connect and collaborate with colleagues,” said the CEO.